JP2003220973A - Vehicle hood jumping-up device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lessen limitation of plastic deformation range of a hood. <P>SOLUTION: A vehicle hood jumping-up device 1 is equipped with a jumping-up means which is arranged between a vehicle body and the hood 13, and jumps up the hood 13 to the upper part of the vehicle. The jumping-up means is equipped with a front jumping-up device to jump up the front of the hood 13 and a rear jumping-up device 14 to jump up the rear of the hood 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle hood flip-up device for alleviating an impact force when an object hits a vehicle hood.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a person or the like collides with a vehicle bumper or the like (for example, here, a pedestrian collides with the vehicle), the momentum at the time of collision causes the pedestrian to A secondary collision may occur with a hood panel called a vehicle hood (simply called a hood). In response to such a secondary collision, in recent years, a hood flip-up device that flips up the hood of the vehicle above the vehicle and softens the impact at the time of the secondary collision is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-119823. Has been done.

In the hood flip-up device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-119823, the rear part of the hood (inside the passenger compartment).
A hinge mechanism is provided between the vehicle and the vehicle body. When the engine is normally inspected or maintained, the fulcrum pin provided on the hinge mechanism serves as the center of rotation to open the front side of the hood. The fulcrum pin is normally constrained in a fixed position by the constraining portion. When the collision detection sensor provided on the bumper or the like detects a collision of a pedestrian, the air bag arranged under the rear part of the hood expands. As a result, the fulcrum pin is released from the restraint portion by the expansion force of the airbag. That is, when a collision with a pedestrian is detected, the back of the hood is lifted around the front of the hood as a center of rotation, and a space is set between the hood and the engine room. as a result,
Even if a pedestrian makes a secondary collision with the hood,
The impact is softened by the plastic deformation behind the hood.

However, in such a configuration,
When the lower half of the pedestrian (particularly the foot) collides with the front of the hood, the following problems still occur. In other words, because the conventional device has a configuration in which the front of the hood does not rise,
The plastic deformation range in front of the hood is limited. Therefore,
The structure is such that the impact force cannot be sufficiently absorbed. A radiator grill for fixing the radiator to the vehicle body is provided immediately below the front of the hood, and it is useful to secure a sufficient plastic deformation range even in the front of the hood.

[0005]

Therefore, it is a technical object of the present invention to reduce the restriction on the plastic deformation range of the hood.

[0006]

The technical means taken to solve the above-mentioned problems includes a flip-up means which is disposed between a vehicle body and a vehicle hood and which flips up the vehicle hood to the upper side of the vehicle. Further, in the vehicle hood flip-up device, the flip-up means includes a front flip-up device that flips up the front of the vehicle hood and a rear flip-up device that flips up the rear of the vehicle hood.

According to the above-mentioned means, the front of the vehicle hood is flipped upward by the front flip-up device, and the rear of the vehicle hood is flipped upward by the rear flip-up device. The rear part moves upward, and a space between the vehicle hood and the vehicle body is secured both in the front part and the rear part of the vehicle. This ensures a range in which plastic deformation is possible, especially even in front of the vehicle hood.
In other words, there are few restrictions on the plastic deformation range of the vehicle hood. Therefore, the vehicle hood can sufficiently absorb the impact force.

In this case, the front flip-up device is provided with a vertical drive mechanism that is provided in front of the vehicle hood and that raises a hood lock mechanism that restricts rotation of the vehicle hood around the rear of the vehicle hood. good. In this configuration, the hood lock mechanism for restricting the rotation of the vehicle hood is normally raised. In other words, the hood lock mechanism has both a rotation regulation function and a vehicle hood raising function. Therefore, the entire structure is simple.

The vertical drive mechanism has an ascending link which is linked to the vehicle hood and flips up the vehicle hood, one end rotatably linked to the vehicle body and the other end which is rotatable to the ascending link. It is preferable to include a pivot link that is freely linked. With this configuration, it is possible to raise the hood front of the vehicle hood with a simple configuration of the raising link and the rotating link.

Further, the ascending link may operate in conjunction with the rear flip-up device. With this configuration, the front of the vehicle hood is interlocked with the rear flip-up device to raise the vehicle hood. Therefore, the matching of the timing of flipping up the front and the rear of the vehicle hood is ensured, and the flipping up becomes stable. Therefore, the safety of the vehicle hood flip-up device is improved.

Furthermore, the lifting link may be connected to the rear flip-up device by a connecting member. With this configuration, the rear flip-up device and the front flip-up device can raise and lower the vehicle hood interlocked with each other by the connecting member. In this case, if a sturdy and inexpensive push-pull cable is used for the connecting member, a reliable raising operation can be performed.

Further, it is preferable that the flip-up means reciprocate the hood between a flip-up position and a storage position with respect to the vehicle body. With this configuration,
Even if the vehicle hood is flipped up to the flip-up position,
It is possible to store the vehicle hood in the storage position. Therefore, the vehicle hood can be easily returned to the state (storage position) before the flip-up state. That is, it is possible to save unnecessary trouble such as repair.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an attachment diagram when a vehicle hood flip-up device (hereinafter referred to as a hood flip-up device) 1 according to the present embodiment is attached to a vehicle 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle 11 is provided with a hood panel (simply referred to as a hood) 13 called a hood at a front portion of a body 12 (body).
3 is an engine room 1 in which the engine of the vehicle 11 is installed.
0 is covered from above. And hood 1
3 includes a pair of left and right symmetrical rearward flip-up devices (flip-up devices) 14 at the left and right ends of the hood rear portion 13a, and below a hood lock mechanism 15 provided at the center of the hood front portion 13b in the vehicle width direction. In addition, a front flip-up device (bounce-up device) capable of flipping up the hood 13 with respect to the vehicle 11 together with the hood lock mechanism 15
9 and 9. In the present embodiment, the front flip-up device 9 is provided at one central position in the vehicle width direction, but the position and number of the flip-up devices 9 are not limited to this, and the hood is not limited to this. 2 on both sides of the front 13b
It may be provided in several places.

The hood 13 is moved forward by the rear flip-up device 14 with the hood rear 13a as an axis and the hood front 13b.
The side is opened and closed, and the hood rear portion 13a is flipped up with the hood lock mechanism 15 that regulates the rotation of the hood front portion 13b due to the opening and closing operation as a fulcrum. Further, the front hood 13b can be lifted up together with the hood lock mechanism 15 by the front flip-up device 9 to raise not only the hood rear 13a but also the hood front 13b.

Of the flip-up devices 14, 9 before and after this,
The flip-up device 1 provided on the left side in the traveling direction of the vehicle 11.
4 will be described first, but the flip-up device 14 provided on the right side in the traveling direction is left-right symmetric to the left-side flip-up device 14, and therefore the description thereof is omitted for convenience.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the rear flip-up device 14 includes a hood hinge 16, a link mechanism 17 connected to the hood hinge 16, and the link mechanism 17 with respect to the body 12. And an actuator 18 for movably fixing. The hood hinge 16 has its front end fixed to the hood 13 by a fastening member such as a bolt, and has a cylindrical hinge pivot 19 at its rear end.
Is projected.

The flip-up device 14 has a link mechanism 17, and the link mechanism 17 has a first link 21 and a slider 22. The first link 21 that is rotatably joined to the hood hinge 19 is arranged toward the outer side in the vehicle width direction with respect to the hood hinge 16. The first link 21 is
The hinge pivot 19 is inserted into the fitting hole 21a provided at one end, and the hood hinge 16 is rotatable.
That is, the hood hinge 16 and the first link 21 relatively rotate about the hinge pivot 19 as a fulcrum. Further, the first link 21 is formed with a slide groove 24 along the longitudinal direction.

The slider 22 is a plate member having a substantially triangular shape, and is arranged between the hood hinge 16 and the first link 21. A slide pin 25 protruding toward the first link 21 is provided on the side surface of the slider 22.
It is provided integrally with. The slide pin 25 is guided by the slide groove 24 of the first link 21 and can slide in the slide groove.

The flip-up device 14 has an actuator 18 which serves as a drive source. The actuator 18 includes a guide frame 26, a screw shaft 27 supported by the guide frame 26, a nut 28 screwed to the screw shaft, and a motor 29 that rotates the screw shaft to move the nut. The guide frame 26 is fixed at several positions by bolts 31 in groove portions that cover the engine room with the hoods 13 at both ends in the vehicle width direction of the engine room 9. The guide frame 26 is provided with end blocks 32 and 33 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape at both front and rear ends. Between both end blocks 32 and 33, link brackets 34 projecting vertically from both left and right side surfaces of the guide frame 26 are formed integrally with the guide frame 26 in the vicinity of the front end block 32. A fitting hole 34a is formed in the link bracket 34. Fitting hole 34a
A columnar link pivot 21b is inserted into the end of the first link 21 opposite to the hinge pivot 19,
The first link 21 is rotatably supported by the guide frame 26 with the ring pivot 21b as a fulcrum.

The height of the link pivot 2lb is
The position is lower than the slide pin 25 of the slider 22. Therefore, when the slide pin 25 of the slider 22 slides in the slide groove 24 of the first link 21 and approaches the link pivot 21b, the first link 21 rotates upward with the link pivot 2lb as a fulcrum.

Further, through-holes through which the screw shaft 27 penetrates are formed in the end blocks 32 and 33 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 11, and the screw shaft 27 is rotatably inserted into the through-holes. The end block 32 of the screw shaft 27,
A male screw is continuously formed on the outer peripheral surface between 33.

The nut 28 includes the end blocks 32 and 33.
The screw shaft 27 is screwed into the screw hole provided in the nut 28, and the nut 28 is integrally fixed to the slider 22 by the two screws 35 below the slider 22. The lower end of the nut 28 is slidable with respect to the guide frame 26, so that the guide surface that slides prevents rotation of the nut 28. Therefore, the nut 28
When the screw shaft 27 rotates, moves only in the front-back direction and moves along the screw shaft 27.

The motor 29 is attached to one side surface of the end block 32 located in front of the vehicle 11. The output shaft of the motor 29 and one end of the screw shaft 27 are directly connected or connected via a gear (not shown). It Therefore, when the motor 29 is driven to rotate, the screw shaft 27 rotates,
The nut 28 screwed onto the screw shaft 27 moves in the front-rear direction along the screw shaft 27. As a result, the slider 22 fixed to the nut 28 also moves integrally, and the slide pin 25 of the slider 22 is guided by the slide groove 24 of the first link 21 and slides in the slide groove.

In this embodiment, in FIG. 2A, the slider 22 is located closest to the hinge pivot 19, and the hinge pivot 19 is located at the lowest position. Therefore, the position behind the hood 13a is the lowest position (storage position). Then, at this storage position, the hood rear portion 13a has the same height as the front fender (not shown), and the hood rear portion 13a is in a closed state.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the hood 1
When the motor 29 rotates to the one side from the state in which 3 is in the retracted position, the screw shaft 27 rotates, and the slide pin 25 of the slider 22 moves the first link 21 as shown in FIG. 2B.
The slider 22 slides in the slide groove while being guided by the slide groove 24, and the slider 22 is positioned closest to the link bracket 34. Then, as the slider 22 slides, the first link 21 rotates upward with the link pivot 2b of the link bracket 34 as a fulcrum.

As a result, the hinge pivot 19 moves upward, and the hood 13 has the hood rear 13a and the hood front 1
The hood lock mechanism 15 provided at the center of 3b serves as a fulcrum so that the hood lock mechanism 15 is located in a state where the hood lock mechanism 15 bounces upward (bounce position). Then, in this state, when a person or an object (for example, a pedestrian) collides with the hood 13 on the bumper 12a of the vehicle 11 and then falls onto the hood due to a secondary collision. The hood 13
Is increased so that the distance between the hood 13 and the engine room 10 is made wider than in the case where the hood 13 is not raised so that the load acting on the hood 13 can be absorbed. That is, in this case, the hood hinge 16 and the first link 21 are plastically deformed to absorb the impact force (collision energy) of the secondary collision.

As shown in FIG. 2B, when the motor 29 rotates to the other side with the hood 13 in the flip-up position, the screw shaft 27 rotates and the slide pin 25 of the slider 22 moves to the first position. The slider 22 slides while being guided by the slide groove 24 of the link 21 so that the slider 22 moves to the most hinge pivot 19
It will be located closer to you. Then, as the slider 22 slides, the first link 21 rotates downward on the hood rear side 13a with the link bracket 34 as a fulcrum. As a result, the hinge pivot 19 moves downward,
The hood 13 is in a state in which the rear end 13a is closed and is set in the storage position as shown in FIG.

As described above, when the hood 13 moves between the retracted position and the flip-up position, the movement amount of the slider 22 is compared with the stroke amount of the hinge pivot 19 due to the structure of the link mechanism 17. Is getting smaller. That is, the stroke amount of the actuator 18 is amplified by the link mechanism 17.

With this configuration, when the hood is opened / closed in the retracted position of the flip-up device 14 for inspecting the engine, the hood lock mechanism 15 attached to the front end 13b of the hood 13 (see FIG. 1). ) Is first released, and the hood front 13b can be opened by a normal operation of lifting the front end 13b of the hood 13. At this time, the hood hinges 16 provided on the left and right flip-up devices 14 at the rear of the hood 13a rotate upward with the hinge pivot 19 as a fulcrum.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the flip-up device 9 in front of the hood 13b will be described. Vehicle 1
1, the flip-up device 9 arranged in front of
In 3b, it is provided below the hood lock mechanism 15 that restricts rotation around the hood rear portion 13a. This flip-up device 9 normally holds the hood 13 in the retracted position as shown in FIG. 3, but when the front of the hood 13b is flipped up, the hood 13 together with the hood lock mechanism 15, as shown in FIG. It is an operation for flipping up to the jumping position.

The flip-up device 9 includes a vehicle body 12 and a hood 13.
The main body of the link bracket 51 on the vehicle fixed side fixed to the vehicle body 12 is a vehicle body (for example, a radiator grill or radiator upper support of the vehicle 11 for fixing a radiator (not shown)) 1.
Fixed to 2. Two first and second links (links 52 and 53 (rotating links)) are pivotally supported on the link bracket 51 so as to be vertically rotatable about fulcrums 55 and 56, respectively. An end portion on the opposite side of the fulcrum 55 is engaged with an intermediate portion 61a of an up-and-down link (uplink) 61 having a substantially V shape and capable of vertical movement. The link 52 is centered on the fulcrum 57 and the upper and lower links 6
It is rotatably supported with respect to 1. On the other hand, the end of the link 53 on the opposite side of the fulcrum 54 is the lower end 6 of the vertical link 61.
1b is engaged, and the link 53 is pivotally supported about the vertical link 61 about the fulcrum 56.

That is, the upper and lower links 61 are rotatably supported by the links 53 and 52 at the lower end portion 61b and the intermediate portion 61a, and the link bracket 51 and the links 52 and 5 are provided.
The four-link mechanism 74 is composed of the upper and lower links 2 and 61.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vertical link 61 has a fulcrum 57 of the intermediate portion 61a when the hood 13 is in the retracted position.
Is disposed so that the upper end portion 61c is located at a position slightly rearward of just above. The hood 13 is provided on the upper end 61c.
15b of the hood lock mechanism 15 that regulates the rotation of the
Is provided and has a latch function integrally with the latch 15b. In other words, in the hood lock mechanism 15, the vertical rotation of the hood front 13b is restricted by engaging the latch 15b with the striker 15a provided below the hood front 13b.
The hood lock mechanism 1 is provided integrally with the c or the upper end portion 61 itself has a latch function.
A component having a latch function is shared between the flip-up device 5 and the flip-up device 9.

In the structure of the four-bar linkage 74 described above,
The fulcrum 56 on the moving side, which moves up and down in the shape of an arc, is positioned slightly behind the fulcrum 54 on the fixed side. Further, similarly to this, the fulcrum 57 on the moving side that moves up and down in an arc shape.
Is connected to a cable 71 capable of pressing the lower ends of the upper and lower links above the vehicle 11 so as to be located slightly rearward of the position directly below the fixed side fulcrum 55. One end 72 of the cable 71 is a lower end 61b of the vertical link 61.
Taper surface 6 that is tapered from the center to the intermediate portion 61a
The other end 73 is locked by a locking portion 61e formed in a part of 1d, and the other end 73 is one of nuts 28 which slides in the guide frame 26 of the rear flip-up device 14 by being screwed onto the screw shaft 27. It is fixed to the section. In this case, the other end 7 of the cable 71
3 is a position where the nut 28 does not buffer the parts around the nut when the nut 28 is screwed onto the screw shaft 27 and moves on the guide frame (the side surface of the nut 28 in the vehicle width direction, or the nut 28).
It is fixed on the upper surface).

As the cable 71 for connecting the operations of the front and rear flip-up devices 9 and 14, a strong push-pull cable is used which allows the wire to freely move inside the outer covering portion. The cable 71 has a structure that is difficult to bend at an intermediate position where the covering portion is provided, and is set to a cable thickness that allows the hood 13 to be sufficiently lifted by the pushing force of the cable 71. The cable 71 is fixed to the vehicle 11 by the cable fixing member 75 at several positions in the middle where the covering portion is provided.

In the four-bar linkage mechanism 74 having such a structure, the motor 29 is driven from the retracted state shown in FIG. 3 to cause the nut 28 of the rear flip-up device 14 to move as shown in FIG. 2 (b). When moving to the front position instantly, the wire at the tip of the cable 71 fixed to the vehicle projects upward by the amount of movement of the nut 28. As a result, the end 72 of the cable 71 rises, and the pushing force at that time imparts a turning force to the vertical link 61. Then, when the turning force is applied, the link bracket 51 fixed to the vehicle side of the vertical link 61 rotates about the fulcrums 54 and 55.

Since the upper and lower links 61 are rotatably supported at two positions by the links 52 and 53, the fulcrums 56,
57 and the upper and lower links 61 are
Ascending movement is restricted by two fulcrums
At the hood front 13b, the distance between the hood 13 and the engine arranged in the engine room is
It becomes wider than when b is not raised.

On the other hand, when the rear flip-up device 14 is in the retracted position of the hood rear 13a as shown in FIG. 2A, one of the cables 71 is moved along with the movement of the nut 28 to fix the cable 71. The end portion 72 is pulled downward so that the hood front portion 13b is also in the storage position shown in FIG.

Next, the electrical construction of the control circuit 36 for controlling the vertical drive of the flip-up device 14 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 5, the control circuit 36 includes an electronic control unit (hereinafter referred to as ECU) 37. ECU
37 mainly inputs signals from various sensors described later to control the motor 29, the CPU 38, and the RO.
It is provided with an M39, a RAM 41, an input / output circuit 42, and a drive circuit 47. In this embodiment, the ECU
Although the drive circuit 47 is provided inside 37, it is not limited to this, and the drive circuit 47 is provided outside the ECU 37.
May be provided.

The CPU 38 controls the flip-up devices 14 and 9 in accordance with the program stored in the ROM 39. That is, various arithmetic processes for driving the motor 29 are executed. The ROM 39 stores a program for controlling the motor 29 of the flip-up device 14, and the RAM 41
Stores the arithmetic processing result of the CPU 38 temporarily and stores various data.

The control program stored in the ROM 39 issues a drive instruction to the input / output circuit 42 to control the motor 29 based on the traveling state of the vehicle 11 and information from various sensors provided on the vehicle 11. Then, the hood 13 is moved to either the flip-up position or the storage position.

The RAM 41 is provided with a flag storage section 41a. The flag storage unit 41a stores data regarding the flag F indicating either "1" or "0". When the data of the flag F is “1”, it means that the hood 13 is located at the flip-up position and is in a state of protecting an object such as a person or an object (here, a pedestrian, for example). Represent Further, when the data of the flag F is “0”, it means that the hood 13 is located at the storage position. The data of the flag F is selected by the CPU 38 according to the flip-up control program.

The CPU 38, via the input / output circuit 42,
It is connected to the vehicle speed sensor 43 and inputs a vehicle speed signal from the vehicle speed sensor 43. Specifically, the vehicle speed sensor 43
Detects the rotation of a rotating member provided on an axle of a transmission (not shown) of the vehicle 11 by a detection element, detects a rotation signal corresponding to the vehicle speed as a pulse signal, and outputs it as a vehicle speed signal.

The CPU 38 is connected via an input / output circuit 42 to a pre-crash sensor 44 as a first detecting means, and the first sensor 44 outputs a person and object detection signal.
Input the detection signal of. More specifically, the pre-crash sensor 44 is mounted inside the bumper 12a of the vehicle 11. The pre-crash sensor 44 detects a pedestrian or the like within a certain distance (several meters) in front of the traveling direction of the vehicle 11 and outputs it as a first detection signal. The pre-crash sensor 44 uses non-contact detection of infrared rays, ultrasonic waves, images, millimeter wave radar, etc.
It is configured to be able to detect the presence of a pedestrian or the like in front of the traveling direction. The pre-crash sensor 44 is not limited to the one described above as long as it can contactlessly detect a person and an object.

The CPU 38 is connected to the bumper sensor 45 as the first collision detecting means via the input / output circuit 42, and inputs the primary collision detection signal as the first collision detection signal from the bumper sensor 45. More specifically, the bumper sensor 45 is attached to the bumper 12a of the vehicle 11, detects a primary collision in which a pedestrian or the like collides with the bumper 12a provided in front of the vehicle 11, and outputs it as a primary collision detection signal. The bumper sensor 45 can detect a pedestrian's collision with a contact switch or the like whose contacts are brought into conduction when compressed by a collision load input from the front.

The CPU 38 is connected to the hood sensor 46 as the second collision detection means via the input / output circuit 42, and inputs the secondary collision detection signal as the second collision detection signal from the hood sensor 46. More specifically, the hood sensor 46 is provided on the hood 13, and detects a secondary collision in which the pedestrian who first collides with the bumper 12a of the vehicle 11 falls down on the hood 13 to detect a secondary collision. Output a detection signal. The hood sensor 46 is composed of, for example, a load sensor, and detects a secondary collision by detecting a collision load input to the hood 13 from above by a strain detection element such as a strain gauge (not shown). it can.

Further, the hood sensor 46 may be a sensor other than the strain gauge as long as it can detect an impact on the hood 13, and may be detected by a pressure sensitive conductive rubber, a contact switch or the like.

The CPU 38 is connected via an input / output circuit 42 to a drive circuit 47 which supplies power to the motor 29 of the flip-up device 14. The CPU 38 outputs a motor drive signal to the drive circuit 47. Then, the drive circuit 47 that receives this signal supplies power to the motor 29 based on the signal from the CPU 38, and rotationally drives the motor 29 in the rotation direction calculated by the CPU 38. The drive circuit 47 synchronously rotationally drives the motors 29 provided on the left and right flip-up devices 14.

Next, the processing of the control circuit 36 configured to drive and control the flip-up device 14 will be described.

First, the CPU 38 executes the following processing operation for the flip-up control in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 in each predetermined cycle.

The CPU 38 reads the currently stored flag F data from the flag storage section 41a of the RAM 41 in accordance with the flip-up control program. Then, whether the read data of the flag F is "1",
That is, it is identified whether or not the hood 13 is located at the flip-up position (step S1). When the data of the flag F is identified as "1" (step S1
Then, YES), the CPU 38 ends this process and waits until the next cycle of the flip-up control. This is because when the hood 13 is already in the flip-up position due to a secondary collision, there is a possibility that the hood 13 is damaged, and there is no need to return it to the storage position.

On the other hand, in step S1, CP
When U38 identifies that the data of the flag F is "0" (NO in step S1), the CPU 38 determines in step S2.
Then, the vehicle speed signal is input from the vehicle speed sensor 43. Then, based on the input vehicle speed signal, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 11 is traveling at a certain speed or more (step S
2). Then, when the CPU 38 identifies that the vehicle 11 is not traveling at a certain speed or higher (NO in step S2).
The process is terminated, and the process waits until the next flip-up control cycle.

Then, in step S2, the CPU 3
When 8 determines that the vehicle 11 is traveling at a certain speed or higher (YES in step S2), the CPU 38 moves to step S3 and determines whether or not the first detection signal is input from the pre-crash sensor 44. Is identified (step S3). Then, when the CPU 38 identifies that the first detection signal is not input (NO in step S3), the CPU 38 ends the process and waits until the next flip-up control cycle.

Further, in step S3, the CPU 38
However, if it is determined that the first detection signal is input (YES in step S3), the CPU 38 moves to step S4 and instructs the drive circuit 47 to control the motor 29 to the − side. Is output (step S4).
Then, the drive circuit 47 rotates the motor 29 to one side based on the control signal from the CPU 38. as a result,
The hood 13 is moved to the flip-up position.

Then, in step S4, the CPU 38 outputs a control signal to the drive circuit 47 to move the rear and front hoods 13 by the flip-up devices 14 and 9 to the flip-up position, and then the flag. The data of F is set to "1" (step S5). Then, the CPU 38
Discriminates whether or not the primary collision signal from the bumper sensor 45 and subsequently the secondary collision signal from the hood sensor 46 are output within a predetermined constant time (steps S6, S7, S).
8).

In this embodiment, a person is detected by the pre-crash sensor 44 for the predetermined time, and the detected person collides with the bumper 12a (primary collision) and subsequently collides with the hood 13 (secondary collision). It is set in advance assuming that a collision). In other words, it is the time required from the time when the pre-crash sensor 44 detects a person to the second collision, which is the time obtained in advance by experiments, tests, etc., with some margin time added. The fixed time may be changed according to the vehicle speed at each time.

When the primary collision signal is output within a fixed time (YES in step S6) and subsequently the secondary collision signal is output (YES in step S7), the CPU 38
The flip-up processing operation ends.

On the other hand, when the primary collision signal and the secondary collision signal are not output within the fixed time (YES in step S8), the CPU 38 proceeds to step S9. Step S9
At, the CPU 38 outputs a control signal for rotating the motor 29 to the other side.

Then, the drive circuit 47 rotates the motor 29 to the other side based on the control signal. As a result, the hood 13 moves to the storage position.

In step S9, the CPU 38 outputs a control signal to the drive circuit 47 to move the hood 13 to the storage position, and sets the data of the flag F to "0" (step S10). Then, the CPU 38 ends the flip-up processing operation and waits until the next cycle of the flip-up processing operation.

Therefore, when the pre-crash sensor 44 detects the presence of a pedestrian or the like while the vehicle 11 is traveling at a certain speed or more, the hood 13 is linked with the hood front 13b and the hood rear 13a. It will be moved to the flip-up position. Then, after that, within a fixed time, the pumper sensor 45 and the hood sensor 46
-When a secondary collision and a secondary collision are detected, the hood 13 remains in the flipped-up position.

As a result, the vehicle 11 collides with a pedestrian or the like,
Even if a pedestrian or the like falls down on the hood 13 and the secondary collision occurs, the impact of the secondary collision is absorbed and relaxed by the plastic deformation of the hood or the like because the entire hood is maintained in the flip-up position in advance. Is protected. And the hood 13
Has started moving to the flip-up position before the primary collision and the secondary collision, so that there is a margin in the operation time until the secondary collision.

Further, even if the pre-crash sensor 44 detects the presence of a pedestrian or the like ahead of the traveling direction and the hood 13 is moved to the flip-up position, the bumper sensor 45 and the hood sensor 46 are within a fixed time thereafter. If the primary collision signal and the secondary collision signal from are not detected, the hood 13 is moved to the storage position.

As a result, even if the pre-crash sensor 44 erroneously detects the presence of a pedestrian or the like and the hood 13 is moved to the flip-up position, a collision is avoided and the detection signals from the pumper sensor 45 and the hood sensor 46 are sent. If not, the hood 13 can be easily returned to the storage position.

According to the above embodiment, the following features can be obtained.

(1) In this embodiment, the flip-up device 9 is in front of the hood 13 and the flip-up device 14 is in rear of the hood 13 so as to flip up. Therefore, when a collision is detected, the hood 13 can be extended from the front to the rear to ensure a sufficient distance from the engine room 10. Therefore, the restriction on the plastic deformation of the hood 13 can be reduced, and the impact on a pedestrian or the like can be reduced.

(2) In this embodiment, the flip-up device 9
Is configured to move the hood lock mechanism 15 of the hood 13 up and down. The hood lock mechanism 15 includes the hood 13.
The rotation of the front part 13b due to the opening / closing operation is restricted. That is, the hood lock mechanism 15 has a rotation restricting action,
By sharing the action of flipping up forward, the overall configuration is simplified.

(3) In this embodiment, the flip-up device 9
Is connected to the hood 13 by the upper and lower links 61 that flip up the hood 13 and the ring bracket 51.
Mainly composed of links 52, 52 fixed to. That is, the function of raising the hood front portion 13b is achieved by a simple configuration using these links.

(4) In this embodiment, the flip-up device 9 and the flip-up device 14 apply the driving force of the motor 29 to the cable 71.
It is configured to be shared via. That is, the motor 2
By the drive of 9, the flip-up device 9 and the flip-up device 14
It is configured so that the timing of jumping up is the same. Therefore, securing the space by flipping up is stable and safety is improved. Further, since the flip-up device 9 and the flip-up device 14 share the motor 29, the number of devices is small, a simple configuration and cost reduction are realized.

(5) In this embodiment, the link mechanism 17 for connecting the hood 13 of the vehicle 11 and the body body 12 is
The actuator 18 and the front four-bar linkage 74,
It is operated by the cable 73, and the entire hood is reciprocated between the retracted position and the flipped position.

Therefore, the hood 13 is moved to the flip-up position as a whole when the impact of the secondary collision of the person and the object is alleviated, but the secondary collision does not actually occur and the hood 13 is accidentally flipped up. Even when the hood 13 has been moved to the position, the hood 13 that has been flipped up can be returned to the storage position and can be regenerated.

(6) In this embodiment, the hood 13 and the body 12 are connected by the link mechanism 17 that amplifies the stroke amount of the actuator 18, and the hood 13 is moved to the flip-up position and the storage position. I did it.

Therefore, the link mechanism 17 can greatly flip up the hood 13 with a small amount of operation of the motor 29, can shorten the time until the completion of the flipping up, and prevent a secondary collision of a person and an object with a vehicle. It is possible to make early preparations for cushioning the shock. Moreover, the flip-up device 14 can be made into a simple structure, and the overall size can be reduced. (7) In the present embodiment, the link mechanism 17 and the front four
The joint link mechanism 74 allows the hood 13 to be kept in the flipped-up position, and the link mechanism 17 and the four-joint link mechanism 74 are plastically deformed even when a large impact is applied to the hood 13 in the case of a secondary collision. While absorbing the energy of impact. In addition, unlike the airbag system, the airbag does not expand due to the magnitude of the impact of the secondary collision, and the impact energy cannot be absorbed.

(8) In this embodiment, since the link mechanism 17 is adopted and the hood hinge 16 is not changed from the conventional hood hinge for opening and closing the vehicle hood, the design can be easily changed. is there.

(9) In this embodiment, the approach of a person or an object to the vehicle 11 is detected by the pre-crash sensor 44. When the CPU 38 inputs the detection signal of the pre-crash sensor 44, the actuator 18
To drive the motor 29 of the link mechanism 17 to operate the front and rear flip-up devices 14 and 9 in conjunction,
3 was moved to the flip-up position.

Therefore, when the detection signal from the pre-crash sensor 44 is input, the CPU 38 controls the actuator 18 to start the movement of the hood 13 to the flip-up position before the collision with the vehicle 11. You can As a result, there is more time for the entire hood to move to the flip-up position, and the preparation for reducing the impact of the secondary collision of people or objects can be made quickly.

(10) In this embodiment, the bumper sensor 45 for detecting a collision with the bumper 12a and the hood sensor 46 for detecting a collision with the hood 13 are provided. Therefore, when the CPU 38 receives the detection signals from the bumper sensor 45 and the hood sensor 46 within a certain time while the hood has moved to the flip-up position, the vehicle 11
When it is determined that no actual collision has occurred, the front and rear flip-up devices 14 and 9 can be driven to return the entire hood to the storage position. The bumper sensor 45 and the hood sensor 4 determine whether a secondary collision with the vehicle 11 has occurred.
Since it was detected by both 6, the bumper 1 for people and things
The hood 13 can be moved by distinguishing the collision with the 2a.

[0080]

According to the present invention, the front of the vehicle hood is flipped upward by the front flip-up device, and the rear of the vehicle hood is flipped upward by the rear flip-up device. And the rear part moves upward, so that a space can be secured between the vehicle hood and the engine room. As a result, the constraint that the vehicle hood can be plastically deformed is less than in the conventional case, and when a collision with an object occurs, the vehicle hood is sufficiently plastically deformed and the impact force can be absorbed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a mounting view of a vehicle hood flip-up device according to an embodiment of the present invention mounted on a vehicle.

2A and 2B are explanatory views showing the state of the rear flip-up device shown in FIG. 1, in which FIG. 2A shows the hood storage position and FIG. 2B shows the hood flip-up position.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of the front flip-up device shown in FIG. 1 at a hood storage position.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of the front flip-up device shown in FIG. 1 at a hood flip-up position.

5 is a connection diagram with the electronic control circuit of the hood flip-up device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

6 is a flowchart showing a process of an electronic control circuit of the hood flip-up device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Vehicle hood flip-up device (hood flip-up device) 9 Front flip-up device (bouncing means) 10 engine room 11 vehicles 12 body (body) 13 Vehicle hood 14 Rear flipping device (bouncing means) 15 Hood lock mechanism 52,53 link (rotating link) 61 Vertical link (uplink) 71 cable (connecting member) 74 4-section link mechanism (vertical drive mechanism)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle hood flip-up device, which is provided between a vehicle body and a vehicle hood and has a flip-up means for flipping up the vehicle hood to the upper side of the vehicle, wherein the flip-up means is in front of the vehicle hood. A vehicle hood flip-up device comprising: a front flip-up device that flips up a vehicle and a rear flip-up device that flips up a rear part of the vehicle hood. 2. The front flip-up device includes a vertical drive mechanism that is provided in front of the vehicle hood and that raises a hood lock mechanism that restricts rotation of the vehicle hood around the rear of the vehicle hood. The vehicle hood flip-up device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The up-and-down drive mechanism includes an ascending link that is linked to the vehicle hood and flips up the vehicle hood; one end is rotatably linked to the vehicle body and the other end is pivotally connected to the ascending link. The vehicle hood flip-up device according to claim 2, further comprising a pivot link that is freely linked. 4. The vehicle hood flip-up device according to claim 3, wherein the ascent link operates in conjunction with the rear flip-up device. 5. The vehicle hood flip-up device according to claim 4, wherein the ascending link is connected to the rear flip-up device by a connecting member. 6. The vehicle hood according to claim 1, wherein the flip-up means reciprocates the hood between a flip-up position and a storage position with respect to the vehicle body. Bounce device.